I’m going to share some springtime with you.

cluster of wisteria blooms

bragging about their beauty

I consider myself fairly familiar with contemporary American artists but maybe I’m not. Recently, I was trying to catch up with reading the magazine from the New York Times weekend edition – it’s the only newspaper I get now because it gives me “all the news that’s fit to print” – and they had a series of articles written by different writers about some noteworthy people that passed away in 2017. These were interesting in that they did not have the feeling of being obituary notices. I read them all, including one about Barkley Hendricks, 1945 – 2017. I tore out a section of the article because it had a quote of his that I really liked. He said “I’m doing what I want to do. I paint because I like to paint. I paint because I am motivated for a variety of reasons that I don’t think are always necessary to blab about.” That resonated with me – straightforward and direct. I had never heard of Barkley Hendricks and I don’t remember ever seeing his artwork before so I thought I should do a little search on him. I found this:

BIOGRAPHY

Barkley L. Hendricks’ socially charged work has spanned drastically diverse cultural climates, from the Black Power movement of the 1960s through the election of the United States’ first black president. While touring European museums in the ’60s, a 21-year-old Hendricks was so stricken by the lack of black presence in paintings of the Old Masters that he began his now best known work: life-sized paintings of urban black men (originally subjects from his hometown of Philadelphia) in empowered, classical depictions. Hendricks became a pioneer of black portraiture that pairs art history with questions of personal identity and cultural heritage, championed today by artists like Kehinde Wiley. Though primarily a painter, Hendricks credits photography as a key to his practice, which he studied under Walker Evans and often uses as reference to create his stunning, photorealistic portraits.

Happy New Year!

Now that these paintings are back in circulation I am making them available for sale. Each one is acrylic on 15″W x 30″L gallery wrapped canvas. That means that a frame is not required. They can be grouped together in any combination and can be hung vertically or horizontally. The price is $400 each. If more than one is purchased then I can offer a discount. Let’s talk!

Angle #1

Angle #3

Angle #2

I hope that your New Year’s resolution is to buy original art. You can visit my website http://www.marianyap.com or contact me anytime.

Looks like I haven’t posted in a long time. I haven’t been totally idle – I spent some time painting from a live model with a group of local painters over a 4 week period early in the year, I’ve submitted work to several juried shows, put 2 paintings in a juried show in San Francisco, participated in an exhibit with my artists’ group at the Redwood Shores Library, and sold a print and a painting on the Saatchi online gallery.

Here is my most recent painting. It is acrylic on 16″ x 20″ canvas and the title is WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT.

Two of the pieces that I submitted to the 2015 Exposition of Awarded Artwork were given special recognition by the Juror. Here is the Press Release that was sent out:

Artist MARIAN YAP of PACIFICA, CALIFORNIA has received TWO Special Recognition Awards in the “2015 Exposition of Awarded Artwork WWW International” hosted by Upstream People Gallery of Omaha, Nebraska. This international exhibition received approximately 225 art entries from around the world and 24 artists were selected by the Juror Laurence Bradshaw, Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, U.S.A.

Professor Bradshaw states the following about this specially recognized work:

“Marian Yap of Pacifica, CA has achieved a fresh abstract level of expression. Her “Float”, “Going to the Gypsy” and “Strata” all show a kind of softness and sense of orchestration fine tuned. And her “Male Figure” and “Stillness” with figurative qualities are quite strong in the manner of her sensitive painting technique.

Following is an artist’s statement about this specially recognized artwork:

“My monotype, MALE FIGURE, was created and printed at IL BISONTE STUDIO in Florence, Italy, using non toxic inks. The figurative work of California artist, Manuel Neri, was inspiration for this piece and I am pleased with the recognition that MALE FIGURE has received.

STILLNESS is a painting that evolved through several stages on the canvas before the final image emerged. I hope that it conveys some mystery and fascination to the viewer.”

Not too long ago I read “10% Happier” by Dan Harris. He described his journey after deciding to make meditation a part of his life – and I was very impressed with what he had to say. This was his personal experience that he shared with the world and after reading it I decided that I would start a practice of meditation myself. For a few months I did a daily meditation then stopped for a while but have now started anew.

I began a new series of paintings about meditation and here are two that I have completed so far.

It’s getting closer – the Peninsula Chapter of Women’s Caucus for Art will be showing the work of over 20 artist members at the Coastal Arts League Gallery and Museum in Half Moon Bay, CA, opening on August 21.

The work of these artists is guided by the theme of BOUNDARIES and is expected to be diverse, thoughtful, and possibly provocative. I am co-curating the exhibit with Deanna Taubman and we have planned a reception for the artists on Saturday, August 22, 5 – 7PM.